•  Can your student talk on his/her feet without struggling, stumbling, and groping for words? Feel confident speaking?
•  Can your student shift “speaking gears” to talk to different kinds of people? Neighbors, people in authority? Or does your child only use “teen-speak”?
•  Is your child a good listener? Or a distracted listener?
•  Can he or she write well? In a clear, organized, way — using good words and without rambling.
•  Does he or she read with concentration and absorb/remember the information?

Professors expect these skills and employers prize them. Having solid communication skills will really pay off in landing a job.

Communication is at the top of the list with today’s employers. That’s what makes these questions so important. Poor communication wastes time, causes mistakes, and drives up costs.

From The New York Times: What Corporate America can’t build: A sentence. Corporations spend 3.1 billion in remedial training. To quote the article: “Considering how highly educated our people are, many cannot write clearly in their day-to-day work.”

Listen to this discussion, and think about how your child scores as a communicator — whether going to college or already in college. It’s important.